Exorcism
by artemis lecter
Summary: Jesse POV. His thoughts as he leaves the world. UPDATED!
1. An Exorcism?

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in this fanfiction; they all belong to Meg Cabot. Copyright infringement is not intended.

A/N This one just sort of came to me ( hopefully it is better than my other fics ). Set during Darkest Hour. Jesse POV.

Susannah has been acting somewhat strange lately. Well, Susannah is _always_ strange, but ever since her stepfather has been digging in the backyard she has become somewhat skittish. She finally confessed to me what it was the other night, while in her stepbrother's bedroom.

Does she really think that my body being found would change the fact that I am here with her? And why should she care whether or not I leave? I always thought it was her fondest wish to have me out of her life. Apparently not, I have realized since talking to her a few nights ago. She was afraid I would leave her, once my corpse was found. But here I am still, haunting what is now her home. And I do not think she will ask me to leave. I hope she will not ask me to leave.

Truth be told, I love Susannah. Although she does not know it. And I hope that she never realizes it. If she knew of my feelings for her, she would either be completely disgusted, and leave me anyway, or she would not be able to focus on her work as a mediator. And being unfocused in her line of work could possibly have deadly consequences. The last thing I want is for Susannah to be hurt, whether or not it feels like I am dying again because I can never be romantically involved with her.

Suddenly, I feel a pull, and I am being pulled away from my spot on the rooftop of Susannah's house. I feel like I am flying for a few seconds, then stop. I look around and realize that I am in a little boy's bedroom, and I am being swallowed into a vortex. I have never witnessed this sight before, but I know exactly what it is. _An exorcism?_

I look at the little boy who is performing the exorcism. I have not come across a boy this young in over 150 years, with the exception of Susannah's stepbrother David. He cannot be more than eleven years old, with brown hair and eyes and a small build. I know I have never seen him before. What have I done to make him wish to exorcise me?

The boy stares back at me with utmost hate. " This is for messing with Suze. Now you'll leave her alone," he says.

Susannah? What does she have to do with this? Then I realize. She must know this child. She must have told the boy to exorcise me. _Dios, I am a fool. _I thought she might have cared for me, enough so that she would not make me leave. After all we had said to each other that night in David's room, I thought I had begun to understand her. Now, however . . .

I look down in shame at my stupidity. I should have known that a girl as remarkable as she would not wish to be burdened by a man such as myself. She simply saw me as a ghost to be mediated, and when she found that she could not, she must have decided to take different measures to be rid of me.

I begin to be swallowed by smoke as I feel the exorcism coming to a close. I fight back the urge to scream. Because I know it will not do any good. Because I know that my Susannah wanted this done, and I shall therefore comply. Even in death, I could never deny her of anything. I shall leave this world forever.

_Te quiero, mi querida, _I think. As I am ripped out of this plane of existence for the rest of eternity.

A/N Hopefully this is better than my other stories. For those of you who do not speak Spanish, _te quiero _means _I love you._

Thank you to those of you who reviewed ( very helpful), and to those of who haven't, get to it! (please?) I may add another chapter . . . we'll see how many people review ( hint hint).


	2. On the Lips

Disclaimer : Again, I own NOTHING.

A/N Okay, guys, last chapter. Takes place when Suze goes looking for Jesse. Again, Jesse POV. The first part is mostly Jesse complaining, but then there is actual plot, I promise. Enjoy!

Purgatory is not all that bad, once you get used to it. Although I must admit, it is somewhat disorienting at first. All I saw at first was a very large hallway, covered in fog and a very black ceiling, like a nighttime sky. And many, many doors on either side of this hallway. I was terrified. I had no idea of where to go, or what to do.

But, like everything else, you get used to it after a while. I do not even know how long I have been here, it could be years. Time really does not have much purpose here.

I am still somewhat shocked. I really did not think that Susannah would do this to me. I have come to terms with the fact that I will never see her again. She does not wish for me to be near her again. I only regret that I never told her how I feel about her. I think it is funny, how you never really think things through until it is too late to act upon them. I will never be able to tell Susannah just how much I love her.

I shouldn't be in love with her. It really is wrong. Seriously, how long have I been a ghost? One hundred fifty years or so? She's a sixteen- year-old girl! And all I can think about is how I would like to be there when she is happy, and see her smile. Or be next to her when she is sad, drying her tears and comforting her. _Nombre de Dios_, I am pathetic.

Strolling down the extraordinarily long hallway, I really did not expect to witness the sight before me. I blinked, once, twice. Unwilling to believe that what I was seeing was true.

" Susannah." Oh no. Is she dead? How could this have happened? _How?_

Although she looked very nervous at the sight of me, she quickly explained that she was not dead, simply coming here to see me. _To see me? What the devil for?_ After all, it was she who exorcised me. Why should she be here?

After I confronted her with this, attempting to keep the anger and hurt out of my voice and facial expressions as I did so, she said that she had, in fact, NOT exorcised me, but that Maria had told the little boy to do so. This certainly explains a lot. But why would she come here? Well, after some more questions, she explained that she had come here- _at the risk of losing her own life-_ to bring me back, if I so desired.

As angry as I was that she would dare risk her life to save me, I felt like I was going to faint, I was so happy. She cares about me. She would not have left me there if she did not. Still, I could not help but be somewhat harsh with her, pulling her along the hallway in an attempt to find the gatekeeper so that we could get out before Susannah actually did die.

A few days later, I reflected on the events of the last week or so. Susannah and I seemed to understand each other much more than before. Maria and Diego were no longer existent; Susannah and I had seen to that. It seems like many things are resolved.

And yet, the goings-on of tonight have brought up even more questions than before. Who was that man, Paul, whom Susannah and I ran into? I really did not like the sight of him, especially after he attempted to murder Susannah. Who, by the way, was asleep for two days following her little adventure.

After she had woken up, eaten, and come back upstairs to her bedroom, I decided it was time to take action. Being exorcised had taught me several things, the most important of which being not to wait until the very last minute to do or say something. And I think Susannah rescuing me from Purgatory proved that she at least liked me.

I could see her anxious look when I said that we need to talk. I could also see how she tried to get out of it be saying she did not wish to talk that day; she just needed some rest. So I did the only other thing I thought I could do under the circumstances;

I kissed her.

On the lips.

A/N That's all, folks! PLEASE review and let me know if this was alright . . .


End file.
